Olivia Olmstead, Freshman
This year, the 2022 New Year's Eve ball drop in New York City was significantly smaller. New York City limited crowds and added Covid-19 safety procedures because of the highly spreading Omicron Variant.
The week before New Year’s Day in NYC had the highest number of Covid cases since the start of the pandemic. On Thursday, December 31, 39,000 new cases were reported statewide, which is 10,000 more than the day before; almost 23,000 of them were just from New York City. More than 60 percent of the new cases in New York were the Omicron Variant.
Due to the new Omicron Variant, New York City’s New Year’s Rockin' Eve was much smaller; while there's usually 58,000 people in attendance, this year there were only 15,000 people. The Mayor fought many people’s ideas of shutting down the celebration in NYC and instead put up new rules and guidelines. Even though there were already going to be less people, the people who were going had to show full proof of vaccination and wear masks. Any children under the age of 5 needed to be accompanied by a fully vaccinated adult. People also were not allowed in before 3:00 p.m., which was much later than other years.
This year people are looking forward to so many things. Most people were looking forward to leaving behind 2021, which was a roller coaster of a year. People are excited to see new movies, and music, and to see how well their favorite sports teams are doing. This year people want to travel, work on their eating habits, get in shape or stay in shape, and overall be more productive. Some people want to start new habits to better themselves and other people want to quit old habits. Many people are excited to see Covid restrictions start to lift so they can do things like see people they haven't seen in over a year, meet new people, and go to in-person events. In 2022, people hope there will be vaccines for kids under the age of 5 and more booster shots.
Even though New Year's Eve was very different this year, people were still excited to celebrate the new year. Despite the differences, people laughed, danced, sang, and eventually counted down to the new year. When the clock struck midnight the ball dropped, people shot up fireworks, and everyone left behind the old year.
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